See John Lennon and Yoko Ono Embrace Radical Politics in Doc Trailer
A new documentary, Daytime Revolution, will look at all that went into John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s legendary weeklong 1972 residency as guests on The Mike Douglas Show — the most-watched daytime talk show at the time — and its impact. A trailer shows how the couple used the opportunity to discuss radical politics in addition to performing music. The picture opens in theaters on Oct. 9.
“What would you like to talk about this week, John?” Douglas asks the former Beatle at one moment. “Love, peace, communication, drugs, anything,” Lennon replied. The couple handpicked their fellow guests, including Ralph Nader, Yippie founder Jerry Rubin, Black Panther Bobby Seale, and comedian George Carlin.
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“In February of 1972, Yoko Ono and John Lennon had a brilliant idea, and that was to turn a mainstream, daytime talk show into a five-part conceptual art ‘happening’ that presented the sharp end of the cutting edge political, musical and very ‘counter’ culture,” the doc’s director, Erik Nelson, tells Rolling Stone. “Their co-conspirator was Mike Douglas, an affable, very user-friendly host, who basically handed John and Yoko the keys to his afternoon talk show, a program that reached an astonishing 40 million viewers daily. What is equally astonishing is that Yoko and John’s vision is as potent today as it was 52 years ago — and that the election of 1972, when Richard Nixon crushed George McGovern resonates today in this insanely polarized election year of 2024.”
The film features new interviews with Nader, Mike Douglas Show associate producer E.V. Di Massa, folk singer Nobuko Miyamoto, chef Hilary Redleaf, and performer Vivian Reed, among others. The film features Lennon and Ono’s music, including a performance of “Imagine” and a collaboration with Chuck Berry.
“Yoko says, we’re doing this show on Mike Douglas; we’re having Bobby Seale and Jerry Rubin,” Miyamoto says in the trailer. “And I’m going, like, ‘What?'”
“Well, young people are known to be cynical,” Nader says at one point, “and I say to them, nobody’s smart enough to be a pessimist.”
Filmmaker Nelson, who previously produced The U.S. vs. John Lennon, says the couple’s appearance on the show speaks to “an enduring message of love, tolerance and, of course, great rock & roll.”
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